Thursday, August 26, 2010

That's it folks! I've (finally) made an entry for each letter of the alphabet so you've now gotten a pretty good taste for what the book looks (and sounds) like. I still recommend it just as much as I did before (though looking at it on a regular basis since I bought it may have been overkill), so if you're at all interested, you should read it! The Complete How To Speak Southern by Steve Mitchell.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

This evening I made macaroni and cheese for my little sister and myself. I don't normally do that since mac and cheese isn't high up on my lists of foods that are particularly good for you. But it was easy, and it fit in with this evening.

As I danced around the kitchen to Taio Cruz, La Roux, Muse, and Lady Gaga, it occurred to me (having just read Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (and having just written a post about having just read Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins)) that Uprising, by Muse, was really the perfect theme song for the books. The words are:

The paranoia is in bloom, the PRTransmissions will resumeThey'll try to push drugsKeep us all dumbed down and hope thatWe will never see the truth aroundAnother promise, another scene, anotherPackage not to keep us trapped in greedWith all the green belts wrapped around our mindsAnd endless red tape to keep the truth confinedThey will not force usThey will stop degrading usThey will not control usWe will be victoriousInterchanging mind controlCome let the revolution take its toll if you couldFlick the switch and open your third eye, you'd see thatWe should never be afraid to die(So come on!)Rise up and take the power back, it's time thatThe fat cats had a heart attack, you know thatTheir time is coming to an endWe have to unify and watch our flag ascendThey will not force us They will stop degrading usThey will not control usWe will be victorious

The book centers around a revolution of sorts, but I won't go into detail. It is worth reading. But whether you read it or not, the song is fantastic. And the video is weird.

(Muse - Uprising [Official Video])

Come to think of it, a lot of the music by Muse has similar themes. If and when they make a
Hunger Games movie, they should use something by Muse.

In honor of yesterday's release of Suzanne Collins most recent book, I though it might be appropriate to send her name out into the blogosphere. For those of you who aren't familiar with her, Mockingjay (which came out yesterday) is the third and final installment of the Hunger Games trilogy.

Now, let's start at the beginning. I won't be giving you a summary of what the books are about. You can looks summaries up online easily. I've even included links to make that easier.

I had never heard of Suzanne Collins, or of The Hunger Games, until my little sister (at the time only eleven years old) recommended it to me over the Christmas holidays in December 2008. A little hesitantly (because it seemed difficult to believe that my little sister could really be recommending a good book to me) I took the book up and began to read it. And didn't put it down until I had finished it.

First impression, other than the fact that it was both fantastic and disturbing, was that it would make an extraordinary film. First impression. I could visualize everything, and everything was simple enough to pull off without making it unbelievable. Of course, that impression came with another hesitation, knowing that, while it might not be a difficult film to pull off (relatively speaking), it could also be easily ruined (Like the recent live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Never have I felt so betrayed by a filmmaker as I did in the theater watching that film.).

Approximately a year later, in September 2009, I read the second book, Catching Fire, as soon it came out. Also fantastic. Both the first book and the second had ended with cliff hangers, and all I wanted was the third book. Again, there was the impression that there was still nothing impassable in the plot for it to be reconstructed into a film.

Yesterday, the third book, Mochingjay, finally arrived and I had it in my hands as soon as I reasonably could (thanks to a reminder from a friend about it). And I read it and finished it. And was not quite completely satisfied, but content. It was sort of real. It hadn't ended with the stars and fireworks I had expected, but it had ended in a way that sort of felt...real. And ok. Still film worthy.

Anyway, I'd recommend these books to anyone and everyone. They're good. They're interesting. They're sort of disturbing. But entirely worth it all. At least in my opinion. I'll have to read them again and see if reading them side-by-side makes any difference.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

There are no "X" entries in my little "The Complete How To Speak Southern Book," so I'm substituting another W entry for it. I could skip it altogether, but this seems to work just as well. Plus, this one has family connection. You know who you are.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I don't normally make lists like this. Anyone who grew up with me (we're talking about pre-college) knows that I was never a boy-crazy girl. I hung out with a lot of guys, played video games with a lot of guys, but never really had crushes on a lot of guys. I was semi-oblivious. So, once again, let me say that I don't normally make lists like this.

Having said that, I was hunting down information about the latest X-men prequel, just to see if it looked any good, and I noticed that James McAvoy was listed as playing Dr. Xavior. Which got me to thinking about attractive actors, which led me to considering if I had enough favorites to make a list. The first six-ish were fairly easy to think of, but after that I had to consider favorite movies and such to come up with the last few. Not that there aren't lots of attractive actors, but rather that I like to be picky in the actors that I'll say are attractive. ... Right. So, here it is. These may not be your favorites, but for various reasons they're my favorites. I seem to have a soft spot for dark headed chaps.

1.) James McAvoy
I probably first noticed James in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe as Mr. Tumnus. Odd, I know, but true nonetheless. After that I realized he was Leto in Children of Dune, which I thought was cool simply because Dune is awesome. And then I saw him in Penelope and my mind was made up. He was beautiful. Plus that movie has the most perfect kiss towards the end. But that wouldn't have anything to do with it. ;) He also appeared heavily in Becoming Jane, but since I had already formed my opinion rather solidly, it didn't have much impact on my thoughts concerning him, except to make them a bit stronger.

2.) Cillian Murphy
Ok. First saw Cillian in Girl With a Pearl Earring, but his part was so small that I didn't fully realize what I was looking at. Next noticed him in Batman Begins. It was at that point that I realized that I recognized him (from Girl with a Pearl Earring) and that he was very attractive (which may seem rather odd since the part he plays in Batman Begins is definitely creepy, to say the least). I then saw him in Red Eye, which was particularly conflicting because he sort of initially played a "normal" guy but then turned out to be a real creep. At that point I was starting to wonder if he played any normal roles. Turns out he did, I just hadn't seen any of them. I watched Sunshine (finally a good main role) and then more recently Inception (which was fantastic!). The thing is, even from that first little role he had, and even in the creepy roles that he played, he still managed to be attractive. So he makes the list.

I've seen Gerard in a number of movies. The two that really tipped the balance in his favor (as if he really needed it) were Dear Frankie and P.S. I Love You, both of which are wonderful. Aside from the fact that he is obviously attractive, he has the greatest voice. When I went to see How To Train Your Dragon, it was so easy to recognize that he was doing the voice for Stoick. It was just so thoroughly him!

First point of interest: I've never seen anything with Hugh in it with his hair like this. But when I was looking for a good picture of him, this one was just too good to pass over. And while this may not be the most common length for his hair, who cares. It's amazing. So, not only am I a sucker for dark hair, but also (apparently) for longer hair.

Let's see. Obviously, every X-men movie portrayed him in all his awesomeness. Then there was also The Prestige, Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, and Australia, in no particular order. I don't think it ever occurred to me at any particular point in time that Hugh was attractive, but it was always assumed.

Ben is a recent find. Recent, as in, I think the only movie of his I've seen is Bright Star, and I watched that last week. But the entire time I watched it I couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't seen him in more films. So yes, I think he's attractive. Very much so. But I don't have much to say about him because I really don't know very much about him.

I haven't seen (500) Days of Summer, but I've heard good things and I would really like to see it. But I have seen 10 Things I Hate About You and Inception, both of which I really liked. Joseph sort of comes across as the geeky guy who just happens to have a great deal of charm and good looks. The characters he usually play seem to be surprised by their good fortune, though no one else is surprised.

The one and only film I have as a reference to declare the good looks of Adrien is The Brothers Bloom, a recent discovery. But it is enough. It's more than enough.

9.) Keanu Reeves
First exposure to Keanu was Much Ado About Nothing. Which he really wasn't all that great in. The film was fantastic, but his particular role in it, or how he played it, really wasn't good compared to the others in it. After that there was of course, The Matrix (which I didn't see until about a month ago) which was good, The Day the Earth Stood Still, which was...interesting, and The Lake House. And, to me, The Lake House brought his character and looks into the light, so to speak. Playing a sort of lousy bad dude in Much Ado About Nothing, I really didn't notice him. The Day the Earth Stood Still was a little weird. But The Lake House made the cut. As did The Matrix when I finally got around to watching it. I'm not sure what took me so long.

There isn't too much for me to say about Milo, except that he is obviously attractive. I only know him from Heroes, but that was enough. Lots of episodes, lots of character development. Interesting. And attractive.

You remember when Crocs were all the rage a few years back? I've never been a huge fan, but I've also never made fun of anyone who wears them. I respect that they may be comfortable shoes. I know my nephew and one of my nieces wears them on a regular basis. I respect that they may be easy for children to wear. I even know that they've designed new Crocs that don't look like the original Crocs. I respect that they're trying to appeal to a larger audience, to sell to a larger number of people. As of yet, though, they haven't gotten to me.

But, for those who do wear them, or are thinking about wearing them, this is for you. It's just a little comic. It won't take much of your time. If you've already taken enough time to read through the last paragraph, you've got more than enough time to follow the link. So do it! And enjoy a little humor surrounding Crocs.

Monday, August 16, 2010

A little over a month ago I came across this article about using Star Wars voices (Yoda, C-3Po, Darth Vadar, and eventually Han Solo) to give directions through GPS devices. It really is a pretty fantastic idea. As it currently stands, I almost always turn the voice off on my GPS because I find it annoying and less than helpful. Anyway, when I originally found it I shared it with a few close friends, but wanted to share it with a few more of you now. So, if you want to read about it, follow the link above, but below are some videos promoting the voices.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

As you are certainly well aware, the internet is filled with videos and pictures of animals doing amusing things. Perhaps most common of these kinds of things are the ones with cats.

As I was stumbling across the internet this morning, I stumbled onto an article (really just a page listing videos) by the LA times with three cat/treadmill videos linked to it. I've grown up with cats around all the time. Never more than three at one time, but a number of them all the same. Abbgail (Abby), Mimpy (the Wimpy Baby) (pictured to the left), Emma (a number of kittens from her), Sherbet, Merlin, Nimue, Thor, Apollo. I think that's it. Anyway, we also got a treadmill several years ago but I don't think I ever had it running when the cats were around. So I never knew (until now) that cats might react in interesting ways to it. Now I'll have to give it a try some time.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

So I've been out and about the country lately and my blog has suffered for it. I need to pick it up again and figured that my little entries from Steve Mitchell's The Complete How To Speak Southern might be an appropriate place to start.

Spearmint: Something scientists do. "Dr. Frankenstein decided to do this spearmint, see, and he ended up with a monster."